IBM fires Power-powered Penguins at x86's weak spots

Big Blue has not made any huge proclamations to date, but it is not exactly a secret that the people in charge of IBM's Systems and Software Group want the Power7 processor and its follow-ons to grab a larger share of the systems racket.

To that end, Big Blue is reviving a Linux-only variant of its Power Systems lineup with cheaper hardware and software pricing that it says gives better value on Linux workloads than an x86 setup.

The new machines, part of what will eventually be a family branded PowerLinux, are variants of existing iron that run in bare metal or virtualized mode using IBM's homegrown PowerVM hypervisor, and which have settings in their firmware that only allow Linux to boot on the machines.